Summertime is the season of high speed activities in life’s internet. We should be thankful that God has provided such a wonderful Wi-Fi of Grace which connects us to His works and provides the means for our wants to be His will. Nature this time of year is like a full speed internet sending signals from the Almighty Creator of all things, that He is in charge of it all. When a summer rain brings revival to the grass, crops, forests and flowers, it causes us to be revived as well.

Summer camps, vacations, ballgames and gardens make for much to do, places to go, things to see and work to be done. As nature is in full speed this time of year, so are we! As we enjoy these blessings and opportunities, we should also do them in a way in which we also enjoy God. After all, it’s all because of Him. He created it all, sustains it all and gives us breath and life to embrace it all. Putting God first in our lives is especially important in the summertime. It’s easy to put God first when we don’t have much else to do, but when we are really busy and take time to be holy, it is much more meaningful and it helps others see Jesus more clearly. Vacations will be more valuable, ballgames more beneficial and gardens more glorious when God is centered and fronted in them.

Summertime is the best time to do something for God. This is because there is so much else to do. Jesus Christ became a sacrifice for us right in the summertime of His life on Earth. Shall we not give up something to show our appreciation for such love to usward? Summertime is the season of production and progress. If there is to be harvest come fall, the fruit will have to be made in the summer. The pruning God does in our spiritual lives in the wintertime is for the purpose of causing us to bear more fruit in the summertime. It would be a shame if we let the summer go by and forgot what God has done for us and what we are supposed to do for Him.

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”  Jeremiah 8:20

The heat and the beach are both from God and are to glorify Him, not make us lazy.

The sweat, the peanuts and the baseball bats ought not deter our spiritual energy and motivation to serve our master. The Lord will send a summer breeze just when we need it. If nature can display the Creator’s power with fullness and flush in the summertime, you and I should welcome every opportunity to manifest the new creation God has wrought in us. The best way to beat the heat is to have enthusiasm for Christ.

“Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14

Zeal means an intense enthusiasm for something. Enthusiasm is essential because nothing worthwhile is accomplished without it. Enthusiasm means “God within” and when God is in something, it matters and if He is not in it, it really doesn’t matter. As Christians saved by grace, what should matter most to us is what matters most to God. God is passionate about everything He does and so should we be. We need to keep God hot in every area of our lives and should never try to keep Him on the “back burner” just for an extra or for emergency use in case we need Him. Jesus doesn’t like lukewarmness, He likes zeal.

“So then because thou are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:16

Where has our zeal for Christ gone? Our government is a soap opera and the church has gone to sleep it seems. We have been coddled and rocked to sleep with election and predestination and have dozed off in a dream world of passive, religious rest. We don’t have to worry that some non-elect pretender will sneak into Heaven, but we ought to be concerned that we sin against our Redeemer when we don’t love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37

Zeal starts with God

“For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” Luke 1:44

Zeal is slacked by sorrow

One of the dangers of sorrow is that in our grief for those who are gone, or for our

losses and disappointments, we lose our interest in those who are living and become less committed to the Lord in our own lives. The Lord promises never to leave or forsake us and we should promise ourselves never to leave or forsake Him. When we feel like we are at a distance from God, guess who moved? Peter denied Jesus not because he wasn’t saved, but because he lost his zeal. And he lost his zeal by passivity and putting God on the back burner.

“But Peter followed him afar off unto the high priest’s palace, and went in, and sat with the servants, to see the end.” Matthew 26:58

It takes Zeal to be a sacrifice

The ultimate sacrifice was Jesus Christ our Lord. He became sin for us, paid our sin debt, rose from the grave after His death and gave us His righteousness. Did you know that He did that with zeal?

“Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgement and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Isaiah 9:7

It is true, nothing is accomplished without enthusiasm. Likewise, no one can be enthusiastic without zeal. 

Sometimes we show more zeal for a sports team or a human accomplishment than we do for the finished work of Christ Jesus. To rest in the finished work of our Savior is the beginning of zeal for what He has done for us. Passion and team spirit are temporary and fleeting, but zeal can change our entire life.

Passivity was the original sin of Adam. He stood idly by and watched his wife Eve take the forbidden fruit and did nothing to stop her.

“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he did eat.” Genesis 3:6

Notice, Adam was with her all the time.

Serving the Lord is the greatest privilege we have on Earth and the most sure way to serve Him is by becoming a living sacrifice. And that is a “no brainer” when we consider what Christ has done for us. There is no use in wasting our energy on something we already have, but a great use for witnessing our victory in Christ like it really means something to us. Sacrificial zeal happens when we quit trying to be loved since God already unconditionally does so. And knowing that we don’t have to earn forgiveness because it’s a free gift from God helps us put away the bitterness and regret which form cracks in our hearts through which zeal will leak out.

To be zealous demonstrates that God is with you. And He is you know! Don’t you think everybody should know it too?! A nobody wanting to tell everybody about a special somebody that saved him, is a sacrificial saint bound for glory. It’s time to shake off the doldrums, wash off the mulligrubs, and have zeal that is real.

Brother Randy